birthday girl

For some reason I thought I already did a post with Rebecca's birthday party pictures in it.  Hmmm....there isn't one here, so either I accidentally deleted it, or I'm losing my mind. 

Anyway, here are pictures from her birthday party.  We were at Grandma's house for the weekend anyway, so we had the party there, which worked out great because the family was all visiting for the long weekend.

She decided months ago that she wanted a Mickey Mouse cake, but then changed her mind multiple times.  But I had already bought the Mickey Mouse decorations, so we went with it.

She adores her cousin Ethan....can you tell?

She almost burned her nose blowing out her candle.

So then Grandma had to help her blow it out!

Loving her musical card from Grandma, and another one from Great Grandpa

She had been wanting a scooter forever, so she was thrilled to get this.  She's already gotten a little bit better on it since she got it that day.

She also got two more guitars (one with strings this one that blows bubbles, so it's an outside toy).

If bubbles get in your eyes, you just put on your new swim goggles!

And she got a violin (she likes to pretend her guitars are violins, so Grandma thought she'd like this actual toy violin.  She does!).  Here's Ethan showing her how it works.

It was a fun day celebrating our big three year old. 

The next day was her actual birthday, and we had talked about lots of different things to do for fun, but it rained all day, so we didn't do much.  She didn't care, since she didn't understand that it was really her birthday, since she thought the party day was her birthday.  But it bothered me.

We did drive out to the lake and the girls walked on the beach a little in between rain showers.  She got to choose where we ate lunch, and she chose a Happy Meal from McDonalds, and decided instead of her usual chicken nuggets, she wanted a hamburger.  It's the first time either of our girls has EVER ordered a hamburger anywhere.  And she ate it.  And LIKED it.  We were in awe.  We have a child that likes hamburgers!  Unbelievable!  We have the pickiest girls on earth, but one of them actually likes a normal American food like hamburgers!  Wow!

That night we went out for ice cream to finish off the celebration.

summer!

This week I finally feel like it's summer vacation.  When Rachel first got done with school I was busy getting ready for our trip, so it didn't seem like summer.  Then we went on the trip, then we recovered from the trip, and here we are.  Summer vacation!  

Yesterday really felt like the first official day.  I had Rachel start working on her chore chart (which really is a list of things she needs to do everyday, some chore like, and some not....).  On her list?  Get dressed, brush teeth, make bed, unload dishwasher (I had to show her where everything goes yesterday, and some of them she can't reach, but she can do most of it!), read 15 minutes, practice math fact flash cards, do a page in the math workbook she brought home from school, and write in her journal, which she also brought home from school.  Yesterday she wrote in her journal (and drew accompanying pictures) for at least 30 minutes.  She gets really into it.  I had no idea it would take her so long.  But she enjoys it.  Today it didn't take quite as long, but still much longer than I anticipated.

Yesterday was also the first day of the dance class she's taking this summer.  The dance class consists of her and her best friend, Taylor!  We had no idea they were the only two signed up, but found out yesterday when we got there.  How fun to take private dance lessons with your best friend!  It's a combo tap/ballet class, and she loved it.

Today we went to the zoo.  It was supposed to be sunny and not too hot, so I that it would be a perfect day to go.  I figured school was out so there wouldn't be any school groups there, but I was wrong.  There were a ton of school groups!  And everyone else in the metropolitan area, too, it seemed.  It was really crowded.  But the girls had fun.

Hooray for summer!

mini vacation

We haven't gone on a family vacation since Rachel was two.  This year we decided to do a little mini trip, to see how Rebecca would do.  We combined our trip to Grandma's house for my grandpa's birthday, Rebecca's birthday, and Memorial Day with a little trip to the Great Wolf Lodge and Cedar Point.  We just got home last night and feel like I've been away forever.  But it was a fun trip with lots of great memories.  I'm just going to do a photo post to tell you all about it.

We left Grandma and Grandpa's house and drove to Marblehead Lighthouse.  Even though I grew up not all that far from there, I'd never been. 

 Rachel (and Rebecca, too, but we don't have any pictures of her) LOVED climbing on the rocks and seeing the lake.  You can see Cedar Point in the background of the picture.  She was SO excited to get a glimpse of it!

 We got to Great Wolf Lodge, our room wasn't ready, so we went swimming for an hour and a half.  Once our room was ready we went up, got changed, and took a little break.  The girls absolutely loved their little "Wolf Den" in our room.  It was Rebecca's first time sleeping in a big girl bed, and Rachel's first time sleeping on a top bunk.  Fun times!

 Inside the waterpark

 This big bucket was Rebecca's favorite thing on the whole trip.  She just kept talking about it.  Every few minutes a bell would ring and you'd know that the bucket was about to empty--you'll see another picture of that in a minute.

 Posing in front of the fort

 Here's Rachel standing under the water when the bucket empties--a HUGE deluge!

 Rebecca and Mommy climbing up in the fort

 Mommy and the girls floating down the lazy river

 Rachel about to go down a little slide (Rebecca went down, too, but she wouldn't do it this time, when Daddy had his camera out, so we don't have any pictures of her).

 I was able to coax Rachel into going down two water slides.  This was one of them.  She was scared, but was glad she tried it.

 They have story time every night in front of the big clock tower in the lobby of the hotel.  This was just before story time.  We had just gotten out of the water for the second time, so we were all wet.

 One of the Great Wolf Lodge characters helped with story time

 Out in front of the hotel

 Inside the lobby

 We're here!

 This was their first ride.  They both were so excited and had a great time.  I think somewhere there's a picture of my brother and me on this same ride!

 Giving us a "thumbs up!"  She was so cute.  Every time she'd come around and see us, she'd give us this huge smile and wave.  So sweet.

 Rachel had a little trouble getting the bumper cars to work right, but she finally figured it out.

 The ferris wheel is one of my favorites.  Rachel was a little scared, but enjoyed it once we got started.  Rebecca was fearless on everything.

 One of several kiddie rides I had to go on because Rebecca wasn't big enough to go on some of them by herself.  This one made me a little woozy because it spun around a lot.

 Rebecca decided to give Snoopy a hug.

 Both girls getting ready to ride their first (and only) roller coaster--the Junior Gemini--with Daddy.  Rachel didn't like it.  No surprise there. 

 Bumper Boats

 These little cars really whipped around the corners--Rebecca loved it.

 We wiped her out....she slept for about an hour in her stroller.

 This is what Rachel did while Rebecca slept....she and I also went on a ride while Rebecca was sleeping.

 We have this very same picture taken with my brothers and me when we were kids....

 This was the most uncomfortable 5 minute ride of my life.  Rachel couldn't drive them, so I had to, but my legs are so long that I didn't really fit and couldn't get my foot at the right angle on the pedal.  It was awful.  I finally made Rachel push the pedal while I steered.

We had been worried about rain, since it was in the forecast, but we didn't have a drop!  It was a great day.

three!!

Dear Rebecca,

It seems like only yesterday that I first held you in my arms.  And now you're a running, talking big girl of three!

It's so hard to summarize you in one little blog post.  I've had trouble every year on your birthday.  Your personality is so big, Rebecca!  You talk, and talk, and talk non stop, about anything and everything.  You ask questions about EVERYTHING.  You want to know WHY about everything.  You are either super happy or super sad.  (Thankfully it's more happy than sad!)

You adore Rachel and want to do everything she does.  She's into Lalaloopsy, so you're into Lalaloopsy.  She plays dress up, so you play dress up.  It's hard to pin point your interests, because mostly you just like what your sister likes at any given moment, but from what I can tell, your biggest interests at the moment seem to be guitars, doctors, music, tractors, and barns/farms. 

You have a short attention span, which can get frustrating, as you flit from thing to thing to thing all day long.  You don't sit still for long.  Just in the last couple of weeks, though, you've been playing by yourself a little more.  It usually starts with Lalaloopsy dolls, but then the princess dolls sometimes join in, as do your Little People.  You're getting pretty good at pretending and make believe play, thanks to your sister. 

You're so cuddly and loving, and want to sit on my lap and be picked up all the time.  You love being read to, and some of your favorites are the classics: The Three Bears, Little Red Riding Hood, The Gingerbread Man, Jack and the Beanstalk, Nursery Rhymes.... 

Playing outside is a favorite pastime, though you don't stick with one activity for long.  Riding bikes to coloring with chalk to swinging to playing in the sandbox to trying to hit the tee ball....you just go from one thing to another all in a span of about 15 minutes. 

You're a little dare devil, unafraid and eager to climb, explore, and try new things.   While your sister has always been timid when presented with something new, you rarely blink twice.  You go down slides Rachel's still a little afraid of, and you climb up anything and everything. 

People can't believe it when they hear that you're only two (well, now three!) because of how much you talk and the things that come out of your mouth.  I know it's because you've caught on to everything your big sister says and does, but it just blows my mind sometimes, what you know.

Happy Birthday to our sweet, smart, energetic, happy three year old!  You add so much to our lives.   We love you so much!